“Pilot”
Written by
Bruce Wilson
“PILOT”
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. NICE HOUSE – EVENING (CLOUDY, WINTER)
Yoni finishes playing a light tune on the piano. He’s wearing nice clothes and is clean shaven. His evidently pregnant wife walks onscreen and hugs him from behind.
WIFE
What was that one dear?
YONI
Ah I’m just playing around.
WIFE
Well it sounded lovely as always.
(she pecks him on the cheek)
(motioning to baby)
Someone else seems to like it too!
You think he’ll grow up to be as talented as you are?
YONI
And then some.
They share a laugh.
INT. YONI’S APARTMENT – DAY (LIGHT RAIN/OVERCAST)
Yoni’s alarm blares loudly, shattering the dreamscape. Yoni’s small apartment is crowded with clothes and assorted items. The clock reads 8:00 AM. Yoni slaps his hand across his nightstand searching for the alarm, but his hand carefully comes to rest upon an urn. He then turns off the alarm and sits up in bed. Yoni tackles a quick and lifeless morning routine then heads out the door for work. As he walks out a dog barks and his neighbor yells at it while coughing.
EXT. BUS STATION
Yoni passes by the bus station. A select few people are coughing, and an old man passes by in the background. Yoni stops to lather some rain water on his head to smooth out his hair a bit. As he leaves his reflection a poster is revealed that says, “Don’t Hesitate, Vaccinate!”
INT. CALL CENTER
Yoni pushes through the door of his work when an enthusiastic coworker greets him.
SEBASTIAN
Hey Yoni good morning how’s it going? Listen,
I’ve got some big new some GOOD new for us, listen up.
Lately numbers for our branch have been in the toilet,
down lower than they’ve ever been before.
YONI
Why. Why is that good news?
SEBAS
Because Yoni. Because that leaves room for
opportunity – room for go getters like you and me
to pick up the slack and take this branch by the reigns.
You understand?
YONI
(fed up)
Good morning Sebastian! Good to see you again.
Yoni walks on by and begins filling a cup with coffee. Yoni plops down at his desk. He lightly smacks himself in the face a few times then picks up a telephone.
YONI
Hello this is Yoni at ARCOM calling, is a Mr. Walter Jameson
available to come to the phone right now? No?
Well can he take a message?
From the other side of the office, Sebastian shakes his head.
INT. CALL CENTER (MIDDAY RAINING)
Yoni is in the middle of a call when the boss approaches his desk with a mug of coffee and motions to the phone. He looks sadistic.
YONI
(speaking into phone)
-can you please hold?
The Boss pushes down the button on the receiver ending the call. A dial tone begins.
BOSS
(while coughing lightly)
Yoni? Do you remember that meeting we had last week about
the plummeting number of sales in our branch?
Yoni is effectively not paying an attention.
BOSS
YONI. And do you understand how individual worker
productivity plays a role in those numbers?
The dull dial tone matches Yoni’s null facial expression. The Boss replaces the phone on the receiver.
BOSS
(empathetic)
Look, I want to keep you around Yoni, we all do.
But if you’re unable to pull your weight around
here well, you don’t leave us with much of a choice.
Just look at that young ambitious employee over there.
(motions to Sebastian taking on multiple tasks at once)
if everyone here had half the motivation he did we’d be
at the top of the charts.
Yoni looks dull and unimpacted.
BOSS
(to Sebastian)
Keep up the good work Sebastian!
(to Yoni)
Let’s not have this talk again okay?
We’ve got a lot of fellas out sick right now,
And the last thing we need is a broken cog…
The Boss give Yoni a hearty slap on the back and exits. Yoni sighs.
INT. BREAKROOM (AFTERNOON)
Yoni tries multiple times to put a dollar in the vending machine, but it keeps coming back out. Sebastian approaches.
SEBAS
Saw the old boss man giving you the business earlier today.
Tough break man, he was probably just looking for any
old schmuck to get the jump on. Not that you’re a schmuck.
Yoni forces the dollar bill into the machine and gets his snack.
YONI
What a crying shame. If only the world were more
like you Sebastian.
Yoni pinches his cheek and strolls to have a seat. Sebastian follows. Sebastian talks as Yoni finds the television remote and clicks through some channels.
SEBAS
Well not to say that the company should be like be,
but we could use some more high energy people on the job,
you know what I mean?
Yoni passes by a few channels with news reporters talking about serious global events, primarily sickness spreading in other countries and confused authorities. Yoni settles on a sit com. Sebastian quickly grabs food from the vending machine and joins him.
SEBAS
Oh, do you mind clicking back to the news?
Some pretty cray stuff going on around the globe
lately, I’ve been trying to keep up on it.
YONI
Haven’t you had enough things
go your way today? I just wanna relax for a moment.
Ok? I don’t really care what’s going on
in wherever the hell.
SEBAS
Well you should. You’re never gonna climb in this
company if you end up sick like the rest of ‘em.
Flu vaccine’s free you know. Take advantage.
Sebastian quickly licks his fingers and gets up.
SEBAS
Well I’m gonna head back to work.
YONI
You’ve still got another half hour for lunch.
SEBAS
(with a smile)
Success never rests!
Yoni scoffs.
FADE TO:
EXT. YONI’S APARTMENT – NIGHT
Yoni unlocks the door and drags himself inside, shedding his clothes as he goes. He graces the urn on his bedside once again with a touch, then collapses into his bed.
INT. NICE HOUSE – MIDDAY (SNOWING HEAVILY)
Yoni wears glasses as he reads a book in a rocking chair. His wife yells loudly from the other room.
WIFE
Yoni! … The baby! The baby’s coming!
YONI
(removing his glasses)
The baby – the baby’s coming!
Yoni dashes to aid his wife in her struggle. He helps her out to their car and seats her in the passenger’s seat. His wife continues to make pained noises. Yoni pulls out of the driveway into a haze of snow and gets on the road.
INT. CAR
YONI
Don’t worry babe, everything’s gonna be fine.
The car comes to a stop behind a long line of traffic. Yoni is becoming stressed out from the situation as his keeps groaning.
YONI
Come on, come on! Move it!
FADE TO:
INT. YONI’S APARTMENT
Yoni begins to lay on the horn. The horn honks continue and slowly fade into alarm sounds from the next day. Yoni shoots upright in bed and looks over to see his sounding alarm clock as well as the urn on his desk.
EXT. YONI’S APARTMENT
Yoni leaves his apartment once again in a faster scramble. On his way past his neighbor’s there is no coughing or yelling, but the whimpering of a dog and scratching at the door.
